Dacentrurus
Dacentrurus was a huge, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in Europe during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods. It had bony plates on its back and spikes on its tail to protect itself from predators.1
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Fun facts
Dacentrurus was one of the largest stegosaurs, about as long as a school bus.1
Dacentrurus had two rows of small plates on its neck and two rows of long spikes on its tail.1
Its name was changed from Omosaurus because that name was already used for a different ancient reptile.1
The gut of Dacentrurus was especially broad, suggesting it had a large belly for digesting plants.1
Most asked questions about Dacentrurus
?How big was Dacentrurus?
About 8 to 9 metres long and weighed up to 5 to 7.4 metric tons. That is about as long as a school bus.12
?What did Dacentrurus eat?
It was a plant-eater, or herbivore. It ate ferns, conifers (trees with cones), and cycads (palm-like trees).3
?Did Dacentrurus have spikes?
Yes, it had two rows of small plates on its neck and two rows of long spikes on its tail. The tail spikes could be used as a weapon.13
?When did Dacentrurus live?
It lived during the Late Jurassic and maybe Early Cretaceous periods, about 154 to 140 million years ago.12
?Where was Dacentrurus found?
Fossils have been found in England, France, Portugal, and Spain. The first skeleton was discovered in a clay pit in Swindon, England.12
?Was Dacentrurus bigger than Stegosaurus?
Dacentrurus was about the same size as Stegosaurus. Both are among the largest known stegosaurs.1
?How fast could Dacentrurus run?
It was a slow-moving dinosaur because its front legs were much shorter than its hind legs, making it hard to run.3
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Dacentrurus
- Named by
- Lucas 19024
- Group
- Plated dinos
- Family / clade
- Stegosauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Stegosauria > Thyreophora4
- Age of the rocks
- 155 to 121 million years (Kimmeridgian / Barremian)4
- Rock formations
- Villar del Arzobispo, Lourinhã, Argiles d'Octeville4
- Countries
- Portugal, Spain, France, United Kingdom4
- Fossil records
- 31 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Also known as
- Natronasaurus, Omosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)4
- Discovery
- Dacentrurus was first named Omosaurus armatus by Richard Owen in 1875, based on a skeleton found in a clay pit in Swindon, England. In 1902, Frederick Augustus Lucas renamed it Dacentrurus because the name Omosaurus was already taken.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether the dinosaur Miragaia longicollum is actually the same species as Dacentrurus.1
Where the facts come from
- Dacentrurus - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Dacentrurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Dacentrurus | Earth and Atmospheric Sciences | Research Starters | EBSCOhost (ebsco.com)
- Dacentrurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Miragaia
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Archaeopteryx
Giganotosaurus
Microraptor
Deinonychus
Baryonyx